About us

Hi, my name is Karen. My daughter, Grace, started Angel Pillowcases as a high school project in 2012 in honor of our family friend, Sean Fredella, who is a four-time cancer survivor. We wanted to bring comfort to patients at Children’s of Alabama and help with local pediatric cancer research, so we became a 501(c)(3) in 2014. Through local businesswoman, Ann Piper Carpenter, our pillowcases were initially sewn by men and women in Haiti to help provide income for families there. When COVID hit in 2019, we had to look locally to have the pillowcases made. The Alabama Industries for the Blind was able to assist with this process up until this year when they received a large federal contract and had to let Angel Pillowcases go to provide staffing for the new awarded contract. We were able to locate Southern Apparel in Wetumpka, AL to help sew the pillowcases, but we needed to locate a partner to wash, iron, and package the pillowcases for the children. Sean Fredella’s mother, Nell Fredella, who is a board member of Angel Pillowcases and past board member of Smile-A-Mile, recommended having the pillowcases washed, ironed and packaged with love by Smile-A-Mile. We are so lucky to have been able to find a group related to pediatric cancer to do this with and to help support their mission. We currently produce over 4,000 pillowcases annually, and we operate as a volunteer organization with no paid employees. Since 2014, we have made over 16,000 pillowcases and provided over $170,000 in funding for local pediatric research. Moving forward we will be providing Children’s of Alabama pillowcases for their patients and funding to Smile-A-Mile for the production of our sewn pillowcases.

Smile-A-Mile’s mission is to provide hope, healing of the spirit and love for the whole family during the childhood cancer journey. Through year-round meaningful and educational programming, Smile-A-Mile helps those in Alabama who are affected by childhood cancer thrive during treatment and the years beyond.

Children’s of Alabama  - For every child we are here. Their mission is to provide the finest pediatric health services to all children in an environment that fosters excellence in research and medical education. Children’s will be an advocate for all children and work to educate the public about issues affecting children's health and well-being.